oks
upon the attractive little alcove in the Guildhall Library labelled
<oe "Bibliotheca Ecclesiae Londonino-Belgiae"> and sees the rows of
handsomely-lettered backs, could imagine that not long ago this, the
most curious portion of the City's literary collections, was in a state
when a five-pound note would have seemed more than full value for the
lot.

CHAPTER II. WATER.

NEXT to Fire we must rank Water in its two forms, liquid and vapour, as
the greatest destroyer of books. Thousands of volumes have been actually
drowned at Sea, and no more heard of them than of the Sailors to whose
charge they were committed. D'Israeli narrates that, about the year
1700, Heer Hudde, an opulent burgomaster of Middleburgh, travelled for
30 years disguised as a mandarin, throughout the length and breadth of
the Celestial Empire. Everywhere he collected books, and his extensive
literary treasures were at length safely shipped for transmission to
Europe, but, to the irreparable loss of his native country, they never
reached their destination, the vessel having foundered in a storm.

In 1785 died the famous Maffei Pinelli, whose library was celebrated
throughout the world. It had been collected by the Pinelli family for
many generations and comprised an extraordinary number of Greek, Latin,
and Italian works, many of them first editions, beautifully illuminated,
together with numerous MSS. dating from the 11th to the 16th century.
The whole library was sold by the Executors to Mr. Edwards, bookseller,
of Pall Mall, who placed the volumes in three vessels for transport from
Venice to London. Pursued by Corsairs, one of the vessels was captured,
but the pirate, disgusted at not finding any treasure, threw all the
books into the sea. The other two vessels escaped and delivered
their freight safely, and in 1789-90 the books which had been so near
destruction were sold at the great room in Conduit Street, for more than
L9,000.

These pirates were more excusable than Mohammed II who, upon the capture
of Constantinople in the 15th century, after giving up the devoted city
to be sacked by his licentious soldiers, ordered the books in all
the churches as well as the great library of the Emperor Constantine,
containing 120,000 Manuscripts, to be thrown into the sea.

In the shape of rain, water has frequently caused irreparable injury.
Positive wet is fortunately of rare occurrence in a library, but is very
destructive when it does come,